Carrot Cake (Linda's)

Original Recipe

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 cups oil

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

1 1/2 cups coconut ( I used unsweetened)

1 1/3 cups cooked carrots (I mashed them up before measuring)

3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained

350 degree oven - 45 minutes or more. 

Cream cheese frosting.

Did it Work?

Yes. This got good reviews at the party I took it to and was tasty, dense and full of stuff. The running joke in our house is that this is carrot cake that wants to be fruit cake when it grows up due to the variety of ingredients that go into the cake. If you have the carrots already cooked up this will come together pretty easily, otherwise it will require some work.

Modifications

Mixing order. The best way for this seems to be what Alton Brown calls the "muffin method". Prepare your pan(s) by spraying with Pam or your preferred greasing mix and set aside. In a bowl sift the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together and set aside. In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla together.  Then mix in the nuts, coconut and the cooked carrots. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, being carful to not over mix. Poor into prepared pan and bake.

Pan size. I did this in a 13x9 and while nothing dire happened I did end up feeling like the pan was over-full and the  cake did not rise properly. The cake fell a bit more than I liked in the middle. Next time, I want to split the batter into two separate pans to try and fix this. 

Frosting. I couldn't find a single recipe for cream cheese frosting in the recipe box. So, it was back to that old reliable, The Joy of Cooking. Use whatever recipe makes you happy, or none at all. This cake does not need frosting to be tasty.